Thread by @ListVoteSense

Imagine a hypothetical regional list.

Here’s the votes for last seat (divisors based on seats already won applied):

SNP 100
CON 95
LAB 60
LD 20

Who’s won?

Now, who would win the seat if 10 SNP supporters ‘voted tactically’ for AFI/ISP?

CON 95
SNP 90...
ISP 10

#ListVoteSense

I’ve always thought the AMS was a decent electoral system, but it’s biggest flaw seems to be that swathes of the electorate seem incapable of understanding how it works. Or they simply refuse to because it destroys their ‘beliefs’ about ‘tactical voting’ and ‘gaming’ the system.

Thankfully, this failure to grasp the facts seems to exist also on the other side (judging by A4U’s claim to harness unionist votes to ‘annihilate separatists’.

Thankfully too, those who imagine they can defy arithmetic seem to be a tiny sect confined to the social media bubble.

But the fact remains that Yessers inability or refusal to understand electoral arithmetic means they’re actually endangering the cause they claim to support.

The more SNP vote is split between no-hoper parties, the more unionists will benefit

Get a grip now before it’s too late

For the sake of simplicity to make the critical point about splitting the vote, I’ve left aside the fact that the quota divisor means it would of course be more than 10 defecting to ISP at start, but it’s an ultra simplified example to point out the effects of splitting the vote!